NBA preseason, Phoenix Suns: Starters and rotations set

With the start of the 2012-13 NBA season less than a week away, SB Nation's Phoenix Suns blog, Bright Side of the Sun, gave readers a detailed preview of the team's starters and regular rotations on Wednesday.

" ... the rotation is ready to go. To no one's surprise, Alvin Gentry's starting five and even the set of backups behind them have emerged from training camp and preseason the same way they entered it."

That starting five is Goran Dragic, Jared Dudley, Michael Beasley, Luis Scola and Martin Gortat. Dragic will be backed up by Sebastian Telfair, Dudley will be spelled by Shannon Brown and Beasley will be backed up by Wesley Johnson and P.J. Tucker. Scola will be spelled by Markieff Morris, and Gortat will get a break from Jermaine O'Neal.

Dave King of Bright Side of the Sun, who broke down each player in detail, says there is the potential for a lot of interchangeable minutes on this year's Suns squad and that those minutes will be divvied up according to consistency.

Overall, this team has a lot of similarly talented players who could swap minutes throughout the season, depending on who provides the most consistency. Coaches need to know what they're going to get, which is why guys like Dudley, Gortat and Scola are a coach's dream.

The Suns open the season on Oct. 31, when they play host to the Golden State Warriors. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. PT and the game will be televised on Fox Sports Arizona.